


Cracks In The Armour

by ApolloWings



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Thresher Maws (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 16:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21148481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloWings/pseuds/ApolloWings
Summary: He can hold it together, he can be everything everyone needs him to be. He has to be. But there only so many times someone can be knocked down before the damage starts to show.Slow-burn starting in ME1 (eventually fic might move from Mature to Explicit)





	Cracks In The Armour

**Author's Note:**

> Author note: If you're reading this, well done, this is my first piece of fanfic in a couple years and I hope it is enjoyable.  
Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the intellectual property of Bioware/EA.

Chapter One

  
The minute that they'd seen the bodies from a distance he'd got a hard knot in his stomach. But not in a hundred years had he imagined history reliving itself.  
The Thresher Maw burst out of the ground beside the bodies, and his eyes widened.

  
“Orders?” Kaidan and Ashley both shouted simultaneously.  
“Ashley, reverse, then start a figure 8.” He carried on watching the creature through the turret scope. Ashley needed no second order, jolting the Mako backwards. “Kaidan, keep an eye on underground activity, I want to know when and where that bastard comes back up.”

  
He could practically taste every coppery thump of his heart in his throat, and his thumbs itched on the triggers to the gun. “Sir, 250 meters, 45° to our position.” Kaidan managed to be remarkably calm, it gave them enough time that he could work on instinct, swinging the turret around and focusing the scope so he could see the beast.

  
On earth, there had been a popular science fiction piece where enormous worms filled with hundreds of pointed teeth roamed the desert. A Thresher Maw felt straight out of such twentieth century fiction, a pulsating giant wormlike insect, a jaw that unhinged and spat one of the most corrosive acids known to the galaxy, and angry. So fucking angry.

  
“Dodge left, Chief, then continue the figure 8!” He barked, recognising the backward swallow of acid and the Maw gearing up to spit. The gun chattered away with bullets, each seemingly doing nothing more than lodge in the great neck of the alien monster.  
“Gun will overheat in 5, reload Shepard!” Kaidan warned. Shepard let the trigger go lax, kicking his foot on the pedal that switched to heavy ammunition while the main gun cooled.  
“Brace for heavy impact.” He warned, and aimed at the next bulge of acid creeping up the monsters neck. It tore through the side of its rigid neck and the colossal beast retreated back underground.

  
“Is that it?” Ashley asked, puzzled but certainly not stopping in her orders. The tank started vibrating.  
“Shit, it's coming up almost under us!” Kaidan shouted. “5...4...”  
Ashley floored it, and Shepard sank back into the metal seat, feeling very thankful for his harness. He didn't dare stop looking through the scope, and spun it behind them to where the Maw was climbing into the sky, a shower of dirt and sand filling the air.  
“Shooting blind, Kaidan. Position?”  
“30 meters, 2° - cut it a little close, Chief.”  
“Could have cut it closer.” She grumbled.  
“40 meters. Same angle.”  
“Second high impact shot.” Shepard switched back to the main gun, and laid into the trigger again. They emerged out the cloud of dust and he saw a glob of acid coming out of the blind spot. “Dodge! Don't care which way!”

  
The Mako leaned heavy to the right, tipping onto the three wheels and drifting. “And you can drive?” He quipped, high on the adrenaline. They rocked back onto all six wheels and carried on, he didn't let up on the trigger the minute he had the Thresher back in his sights.  
“Better than you, Sir!” Ashley laughed back.  
“Gun will overheat in 5, Shepard.”  
“Shit.” He kicked the pedal again. “Confirm location, LT?”  
“70 meters, 18°” He swung the turret to match the angle and fired.  
“It's retreating underground again.” Kaidan confirmed after the shot. “Tracking it.”

  
His nerves coiled and he daren't stop scanning the plain. The first time he'd fought the nightmare from Tuchunka, was five years prior. On foot. First human to take down a Maw single-handedly on foot. It had been done in a tank, and Krogans and Asari had done it on foot on their own, so the feat wasn't a galactic first. Hell, even salarians as a team had taken one out on foot. So despite nearly fifty of his squad going down within the first couple of minutes on that day, he'd been awarded the Star of Terra, even aliens considered him impressive. For all it was worth, the experience simply meant he hoped he'd never see a Thresher Maw again. The only blessing he could see in this encounter was the tank between him and the alien beast. A tank was better than just standard issue armour.

  
“Coming up 300 meters, 89°!” He saw it coming up and fired immediately, pulled the lever for quick reload and fired again.  
“We've only got two heavy ammunition left, Sir!” Kaidan said, Shepard cursed under his breath. “Maw seems to be faltering, it's... Almost swaying on the radar screen. Sir?”  
“I can see it. Ashley, take us over to the coordinates, I don't want to miss this shot or we'll be pissing about with the grenade launcher!” He paused a moment. “Kaidan, readings?”  
“It's starting to retreat back underground!”  
“It’ll stay down there. Speed it up Ash!”  
“Projectile incoming!” Kaidan warned all too late. He saw through the scope as the flying acid hit the top of the tank. “Oxygen recycling unit offline, radiator leaking, and fuel pump reading as... Non-existent.”

  
They felt the tank start to slow. “Fucker!” He heard Ashley slam a first on the steering wheel. “Commander?” Shepard tried to think, ideas flying through his head and being rejected in milliseconds. They didn't have the luxury of time. He could feel both of the marines under his command hanging on his words.  
“Take off shields and move to auxiliary battery.” He ordered.  
“We can't take another hit like that without shields!” Kaidan protested.  
“Did I stutter? We're not close enough and we’re sitting ducks if it comes back for us. Switch to battery!”  
“Yes, Sir!” the Mako hummed as Kaidan manually switched and the shields shut down. The sound dampener from outside turned off with the shield, the wind whistled over the tank.  
“Maw seems to be struggling to retreat fully.” He could hear the fear in Kaidans voice. They all knew that it would fight until it died, or they did. That was one of the things about a Maw, the official Alliance guideline said that if you saw one, you retreated like hell was on your heels. A nesting Maw, or dying Maw, they'd fight with every fibre of their being, they didn't retreat. 

  
“Head straight for it. Weave it up but don't let up on the accelerator!” Shepard focused on the sight, waited until he could see the spongy green of the inside of its mouth. “Veer left Ash, it's going to spit again!”  
It was a masterclass of timing, launching the heavy shot just as the mouth opened and the acid bulge was nearing the top of its long neck.  
He waited until the beast hit the ground before he started breathing again, and didn't take his eyes out of the scope until the dust cleared. “Thresher Maw is down.” Kaidan confirmed. Ashley pulled the Mako into a halt.

  
Shepard relaxed into the turret control seat and closed his eyes. He could feel the sweat on his brow. He unclipped the harness and blindly reached for the exit hatch. Part of him wanted to vomit and Garrus would probably kill him for messing up the Mako interior.

“Shepard?” Ashley followed him out onto the planets surface.  
He sank to his knees, then his behind. His breathing was still erratic. Ashley sat herself next to him, and tilted her head inquisitively towards him, waiting for him to talk.

“Normandy to Shepard, picking up odd readings on the surface, do you copy?” His headset buzzed with the voice of the pilot of his frigate.  
“Thresher Maw. Mako will probably need a lick of paint.” He drawled. “I could really do with a drink right about now too.”  
“I'll tell engineering to expect a tin on wheels shall I?” The pilot chuckled. Shepard glanced lazily back at the tank.  
“Affirmative. ETA on pickup?”  
“Fifteen. Normandy out.”  
He saw Kaidan climb out of the tank slowly and join him and Ashley sitting on the alien planet surface. “If that's the last Thresher I see, it'll still be too many.” The lieutenant laughedawkwardly, stretching out his shoulders. “Damn.”  
“Not your first, was it?” Ashley stated, turning the attention back to him. It wasn’t a secret given his Star of Terra, that's how he'd been infamous even before gaining Spectre status. “What was the one on Akuze like?”  
“Not as big, actually.” He grimaced, remembering that day five years ago. He shook his head. “Well, none of us are dead, I owe both of you a beer next time we hit the Citadel.”  
“Thank God. Now let's get up, if this turns into Kumbaya I'll charge you interest on that beer. Always hated that one.” Ashley laughed, she started to stand. “I'm going to get a detailed log on the damage to the Mako. Adams is going to flip his shit.”  
“I'll buy him a beer too then.” He shrugged, a bubble of laughter escaped his throat. “Kaidan?”  
“Yes, Commander?” The marine glanced over.  
“Pinch me. We killed a Thresher Maw with a tank. Nobody died.” He grinned, almost delirious. The adrenaline was wearing off and he could feel his head hum.  
“Wrecked the Mako.”  
“And here I thought you were the optimist of our bunch.” Shepard pulled his knees up to his chest and stood with one fluid motion. "Right, while Ash is up to that, we'll disable the beacon that lead us here and collect dog tags."


End file.
